


Stars and Lullabies

by SilentWaves



Series: Waves' Dr. STONE Week 2020 [6]
Category: Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Day 6 - Modernization, Day 6 - Stars, Dr STONE Week 2020, Gen, Introspection, Post-Canon, Senku loves his friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25044013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentWaves/pseuds/SilentWaves
Summary: Senku has nightmares in the modern age. He looks at the stars that have accompanied him throughout the depetrification of humanity, and he finds comfort in the memories they bring with them.
Relationships: Ishigami Senkuu & Everyone
Series: Waves' Dr. STONE Week 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1806610
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31
Collections: Dr. Stone Week 2020





	Stars and Lullabies

**Author's Note:**

> I have one(1) consistent headcanon and it’s that Senku has trouble sleeping after the petrification

“Shit,” Senku wakes up again, for the third time that night, with exactly 10 927 seconds passing since he was last able to fall asleep. The first few times this happened, he wasn’t sure if he was just dreaming up the numbers, but a cursory check at the nearby clocks confirmed his suspicions. 

It's not new, but Senku doesn’t know how to deal with it. He sighs, and decides that he may as well start his day off early. It's nearing 5am, which is more or less close enough.

He pours himself a cup of coffee, glad that the rebuilding effort prioritized the energy of its workers, and cringes at the taste. Well, the animals had evolved a bit over the last while, so it was harder to get the dairy farms started up again than they originally predicted. Even now, Tsukasa was out wrangling loose cows without killing them — the not-killing being the hard part, that is.

Oh well, if he could get used to stone-age ramen (not that he had to for long because of Francois, thankfully), he could get used to semi-modern gross coffee that would be better labeled as ‘water’. And semi-modern gross protein rations, which tasted no better than vomit and condensed vitamin powder. And semi-modern gross bread that was always just a tad too mouldy, unless it came from Francois’ kitchen, which then it was perfect.

They had been careful about the de-petrification, of course, obviously needing to secure food providers and construction experts before they revived office workers or pop bands. Regardless, there was always someone or another saying how they wanted a member of their family revived or the like. Senku understands, because if there was a chance that Byakuya was still alive somewhere, then he’d be doing everything in his power to reunite with him as well. But they were barely operational where they were right now, and that was limited to just a few countries outside of Japan. And even then, communications were shoddy and the distribution of resources difficult. Sure, they had a few cities back up and running, but they were only really about a few percent of the way done. 

Senku really wants to go to space soon.

He’d need the cities established for that, of course, with their workers and the insurance that they wouldn’t betray them. Maybe once everything was over, Senku might find it easier to sleep.

Ah, but that wasn’t the problem, now was it?

No, the problem was that Senku has already slept for 3715 years, and he doesn’t want to sleep for another three millenia. It seemed juvenile at this point to fear his own makeshift-bed, because he’s faced much worse. There were lion’s claws attached, no risk of freezing, no bloodthirsty murderers on his tail… nothing. Just him and his thoughts for many peaceful hours. 

It should, theoretically, be ideal.

But Senku can’t even dream right anymore, can’t move, can’t think except for the seemingly endless passage of numbers and the stillness of the night whenever he falls unconscious.

Contrary to popular belief among the villagers, Senku didn’t have _fun_ counting for so many years. He was barely pushing through with his ambition, because of how many _fucking_ numbers had filled his head. He wasn’t counting for the sake of staying awake for the present, but out of anticipation for the day that he can finally be released from his stone prison.

And now that there’s no more prison, no more endless darkness, Senku doesn’t exactly enjoy himself back into it again. Especially not willingly.

He walks outside, and notes that the stars are still out. It makes sense, because they hadn’t gotten enough machines to create the pollution needed to block them out yet. Looking at them now, Senku thinks that they should use this opportunity to cut out fossil fuels altogether.

The stars are nice. Points of brightness in the seemingly-endless night sky, proof that Senku wasn’t trapped but _free_.

They also don’t change not for many, _many_ millenia, kind of like the people they remind Senku of.

He sees a few in particular, arranged in a vague shape of the first symbol on Kohaku’s shield. As a joke, he’d named it ‘The Gorilla’, even though it resembles a stylized star more. The names probably wouldn’t last, he thinks, because people complain about the nonsensical naming system of constellations enough as is. 

But that can’t stop Senku from remembering Kohaku’s friendly punch to the shoulder in response to the name, and how Chrome had come by later, confused as to what a gorilla looks like, and because the star shape didn’t look anything like a monkey. Kohaku though, saw the heart behind the nickname. It wasn’t very gentle, which suits her just fine. She's strong, and there was no harm in owning up to it. Overall, it wasn’t a very eventful day, but that was part of its charm. Just like any other day, and yet cemented so well into Senku’s memory that he can recall every detail just by glancing at a patch of night sky.

No, Senku wouldn’t forget that. They might not stay together forever, going wherever the new modern life takes them, but they would all share the same sky. Maybe someday, Kohaku would look outside and see the star shape, and be reminded of that simple day as well. 

He lays down the grass, greener now even under the moon, either because it’s a new species, or maybe because Senku had missed out on colours for millenia. 

Yeah, he wonders how it’d be like to be in space, not only because of his dream to see the moon, but also because he wonders what it would feel like to be surrounded by the stars that remind him of his friends.

There was another constellation, more a scattering of stars rather than the organized star shape that made up Kohaku’s constellation. It was that specific scattering, though, that reminded Senku of the rainbow flames that Chrome showed him at their first meeting. He named it ‘The Sorcerer’ after the young boy that proved to Senku that curiosity would persevere when nothing else does.

There were more too, and Senku was glad that it was a clear night because it meant he could see them all. 

A spade shape that he named ‘The Mentalist’, in honour of the man who found a home among the people he was supposed to be spying on. He named it after Gen, who saw the merits of science before any other modern stranger did.

A spiral that he named ‘The Seamstress’, after Yuzuriha who took on the most time-consuming job in all of the Kingdom of Science without a single complaint. She could make clothes, sure, but she also didn’t hesitate to do the plan that Senku gave her even once. She's one of his best friends, and Senku wouldn’t have it any other way.

Coincidentally, there's a series of spikes next to the spiral that had been appropriately titled ‘The Oaf’. Taiju, who had stuck with Senku’s whims from childhood and never faltered once. Taiju, who was born with unrelenting stamina and an unrelenting soul to pair with it.

The new North star was a part of the constellation that made up “The Father”, which had a striking resemblance to a familiar smile. Byakuya deserved to be a part of such an important constellation, after all that he’s done for Senku, and for the world.

There were more, Tsukasa, Ukyo, Ryusui, Francois, Minami, Nikki, the villagers, and the others. 

They all had their allocated place in the sky, and when Gen had asked one day where Senku was, he had answered that he would be the person on a spaceship, marvelling at the endless void of space and the reminders of his friends. 

Senku wonders if he could fall asleep here. He’d probably catch a cold, and the grass really wasn’t as comfortable as movies made it seem, but he doesn’t really want to move.

It was difficult to stop counting the seconds. He’d counted them for so long that he’d dream of those millenia in still darkness, counted them so long that he can’t seem to _stop_. It wasn’t easy trying to avoid habits in his own mind.

But he’s been able to start distracting himself, with new inventions, with time spent with friends, with memories of his father, and with the countless stars that littered the sky, representing everything else.

Senku would indeed wake up the next morning (that is, in about two hours) with a stuffy nose, and shivering limbs, and prickly imprints into his skin, but the sleep that he gets under the endless night sky is the best he has had in millenia.

**Author's Note:**

> have I ever mentioned that I love writing for Senku? Because I love writing for Senku
> 
> [Tumblr](https://voicelesswaves.tumblr.com/)


End file.
